Thanks to a formidable lap from James Calado, AF Corse's no. 51 488 GTE will kick off the 8 Hours of Bahrain from the front row in LMGTE Pro class, the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In LMGTE Am class, first pole position of the season for Cetilar Racing alongside leaders of the general standings AF Corse.
LMGTE Pro. At the end of a floodlit qualifying session, the no. 51 Ferrari - with James Calado at the wheel - set a 1'56"201 time on the fastest of the four laps completed. This proved 160 milliseconds slower than the time recorded by Kevin Estre’s no. 92 Porsche, which saw him claim a fifth pole position of the season. The no. 52, handled by Daniel Serra, ended the official qualifying session in fourth spot, lapping the Sakhir track in 1'56"603, on his third time around. The outcome of the qualifying session, along with the additional point awarded, see the crews of the Ferrari no. 51 and Porsche no. 92 tied on points.
LMGTE Am. Maiden pole of the year for Cetilar Racing whose Roberto Lacorte will start ahead of François Perrodo in the race due to get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time. The Italian driver was the quickest with a time of 1'58"712, just 47 milliseconds less than the French AF Corse driver’s marker. Excellent second row for the 'Iron Dames' with Sarah Bovy qualifying in third position. Fourth row for the second AF Corse-fielded Ferrari, with Thomas Flohr handling the driving chores around the 5,412-metre track, while Takeshi Kimura's 488 GTE, in the Kessel Racing colours, posted tenth. Thirteenth position, lastly, went to the returning Claudio Schiavoni in the second Iron Lynx-run car.
Schedule. The decisive world championship showdown gets underway tomorrow at 14:00 with the champions to be decreed eight hours later.